Derrick the Deathfin is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes their platformers with a unique flare. Its self-referential humor and topical environmental humor are more than enough to give it a personality that you won't find outside Banjo-Kazooie.

Aside from the brevity, awful controls, and dull combat, the game is easily recommendable for those looking for that Silent Hill feel.

Although it can feel slow-going at times, Borderlands 3: Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck benefits from its lore-heavy framework and a clear focus on one major character.

Evil Dead: The Game is an authentic and passionate recreation of a chaotic, violent, and wildly slapstick classic. Though plaudits are deserved for the title’s atmosphere and fan-pleasing references, a litany of technical hiccups, unstable mechanics, and odd design choices frequently hinder this promising release. In time, Evil Dead can become something very special. But as it stands, it still delivers a fistful of fun for its ravenous fanbase. Shop Smart.

With a nice variety of starter songs, a solid interface, and a great aesthetic, not to mention extra challenges and avatar customization, Guitar Hero for the iPhone is a great little music game, and worthy of your attention.

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight knows its audience within its audience. It's one of the more engaging rhythm games I’ve played to date, even if I wish it was open from the start and had more to do. Like the Phantom Thieves, I have to follow my heart; and it sides with the music.

Lamplight City offers an intriguing set of mysteries and stands as a great throwback to titles like Monkey Island and Sierra's Gabriel Knight series. The cases aren't especially taxing, but the well-realized setting and characters add plenty of flavor and help the game feel like something more than the sum of its parts.

For as frustrating as failure can be, though, I still greatly enjoy this game and what it's going for. I want to stick it out. Headmaster seems to be flying under the radar as a launch-window PlayStation VR title, but it's one of the most novel experiences out there and decidedly worth trying.

As the Wii version is pretty easy to find for around $10, it's hard to recommend this mixed bag of an update, knowing that the less buggy original is $30 cheaper.

Bungie took a rooster, slicked its hair back, and dressed it up as a human. House of Wolves is the Chicken Boo of video game DLC.

Maybe it’s the Dragon Quest charm, or maybe it’s because I’m happy to be playing a game way less buggy than the last one I reviewed, but I got a kick out of Dragon Quest Treasures. This is the type of game I will happily sink hours into without caring about whether or not I’m actually progressing beyond just building up my cache. A perfect game for those long winter nights, Dragon Quest Treasures will more than tide me over until Square Enix finally gets around to releasing Infinity Strash.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is not the fusion of old and new Castlevania designs that was teased; it merely cements MercurySteam's ambition to keep the Lords of Shadow sub-series as distant from the main branch as possible. Not the worst thing in the world, but still quite disappointing.

For those of you who have been scared off by Dead Rising in the past, maybe this is your time.

Mahokenshi is a decent-looking game, but it’s not that amazing. Thankfully, it’s not the most action-packed title, so a choppy framerate isn’t going to torpedo things, but it’s not something you like to see.

The maps alone in the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Havoc DLC are an average affair, but Exo Zombies rises this package slightly above the cut. I love the new cast, the Exosuits makes a world of difference, and I'm digging the Hollywood cheese of the story.

Layers of Fear wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be based on early impressions, but I was still entertained by its mind-bending haunted house even when the jump-scares fell flat.

It's a lot of fun indeed. A lot of backbreaking, grueling, soul-destroying fun.

Earth Defense Force 2 may not be a brand new game per say, but has enough original content to keep it feeling fresh alongside the other recent releases in the series. With a lot of replayability, online four-player co-op, and a budget price tag it is easy to recommend to Vita owners looking for some campy over-the-top action in spite of its flaws.

Although it doesn't necessarily justify the HD treatment at every turn, the core game is worth playing whether you're a fan of the franchise, or just enjoy challenging tactical action. If Square keeps highlighting and pushing quality experiences like this, it will prove to more people it hasn't lost its touch.

All these years later it's a treat to revisit the world of Legend of Mana in any form, much less through an HD modern lense. It's still unlike just about anything else out there.

chick chick BOOM is fast and furious at the outset but slows down way too soon and way too abruptly. It's fun if a bit lacking. But hey, you get to murder baby chickens, so that's gotta count for something, right?

I had a ball playing it, and seven hours passed without me noticing. I recommend Blocks That Matter to fans of blocks, and just about anyone who loves indie games.

It's just so goddamn fun to play. Anything negative I might have to say about this game is overshadowed by just how addictive and entertaining it is. So it's not the hardcore shmup some people were hoping for -- so what?

In the end, RACE Pro doesn’t transcend the hardcore audience that it’s intending to ingratiate, despite the amount of assists that the lower levels of play allow. If you’re looking for the kind of game that doesn’t let you or other players swing around a corner at 240 km/h, this is a very safe bet.

Lost Dimension has its frustrations and may not be particularly exceptional in any one category, but it's a memorable tactical role-playing game I really enjoyed.

When everything is accounted for, Overlord: Raising Hell is an occasionally fun game that is rarely engaging, but always funny.

It's better than Seasons, but it's not game-changing. If anything, this just serves as a sign that the series is getting long in the tooth, and EA needs to think about releasing a complete edition to make all of this stuff more accessible to more players.

If you're willing to dig in, and I mean truly dig in, the two styles of play benefit Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale. The core story is roughly 30 hours or so, but you can mess around with all of the side content and the farming aspect for far beyond that, which is a perfect excuse to spend weeks on end with a portable.